Sleeping Angels
by Lockea Stone
Summary: AU. Soldiers. Monsters in human skin. For Soldier Handler Zack Fair and his Soldier Cloud, learning to trust each other and work together on the battlefield means first breaking down the prejudices they have for each other.
1. The Soldier

**Full Summary**: AU. Shinra's great Soldiers are believed to be nothing more than monsters in human skin, ruthless weapons meant only for the battlefield. Their Handlers are the real glory holders, the controllers of these seemingly uncontrollable weapons. New Handler Zack Fair believes the stories he grew up hearing about Shinra's destructive weapons, and so he traveled to Midgar to find the glory of a hero as one of their Handlers. Zack is given a Soldier by the name of Cloud, a particularly vicious monster despite his youth and angelic appearance. Cloud killed his last Handler and if Zack isn't careful, Cloud will kill him too.

Yet when Zack meets Angeal, a fellow Handler who has the honor of controlling the famous Soldier Sephiroth, Zack slowly begins to peel away the secrets and prejudices surrounding the Soldiers. As time goes by, Zack makes a startlingly terrifying realization; Cloud is human after all. Somewhere beneath his vicious and feral behavior is a broken and tortured young man who has been driven mad by constant and unending abuse. The same, Zack realizes, is true of Sephiroth, whose stoic mask and calm ruthlessness hides an inquisitive mind and quirky sense of humor. As Zack begins to recognize the humanity of the Soldiers, he comes to another startling conclusions – he will do whatever he must to keep the Soldiers safe; even if it means tearing down Shinra brick by brick.

**Author's Note**: This fanfic came about as the result of several very odd conversations, most of them at 2 am, and eventually morphed into what it is now after a dive through the FF7 TVTropes page. Genesis, in Crisis Core, refers to the Soldiers as monsters. I wondered, what if everyone else saw them that way as well? The end result was this, a fanfic that I'm expecting to be around 20 chapters and between 60,000 and 90,000 words long.

**Warnings**: Let's get this out of the way, shall we? There will be warnings every chapter. HOWEVER, there are blanket warnings for violence and language, casual references to acts we would consider inhumane, and other elements of dehumanization/objectification (including exploration of their psychological effects).

**Disclaimer**: I don't own, please don't sue. I own a copy of the game, a copy of Crisis Core, two copies of Advent Children, an Aerith cosplay and a half completed Lolita!Cloud cosplay. Yeah, I'm just another fangirl with an idea in her head...

**Thank you so much to Namel for being an amazing beta reader!**

* * *

**Chapter One: The Soldier**

"I'm sure you remember from your studies that Mako is nothing more than energy drawn from the core of the planet. The same energy that powers the lights in the tower has the ability to corrupt, to diffuse, and to reconstruct the very core of a person's body and psyche, making monsters where once there were men."

The oily haired scientist was speaking, rambling more like it, as Soldier Handler Zack Fair followed quietly behind him, his boots ringing out against the metal grating on the floor. Zack was only half interested in the scientist's words as he explained what Zack had already heard hundreds of times over in training. The Soldiers were not human. Mako turned ordinary beasts into extraordinary and ruthless monsters, and humans were nothing more than intelligent beasts. So it stood to reason that a human exposed to Mako would become a monster, and a powerful one at that. Yet Soldiers lacked the control and rationale of humans, such was their power as weapons, and so Soldier Handlers like Zack were needed to control them.

They were in the annals of the Shinra Science Department, specifically in the Soldier Containment Cells, and the metal corridor was lined with bars. Some of the cells were silent and dark, while others held the beasts themselves, snarling and growling things, many pacing back and forth and stopping only long enough to fix Mako bright eyes on scientist and the Handler as they walked by. They truly were like all the stories and video feeds had claimed – beautiful for the raw power that rippled beneath their skin, the power of the planet itself that surged through them. Many Soldiers were the same age as Zack, he recalled, in their late teens and early twenties. The experiments that created them were often performed on young children, so that by the time they reached adulthood, they were deadly killing machines ready to be trained for use on the battlefield.

The scientist came to a stop abruptly in front of one of the cells, and Zack forced his attention away from the other Soldiers so he could focus on the man in front of him and not accidentally bowl into him. The scientist shot him an annoyed glance over his shoulder before gesturing to one of the cells. "Sephiroth." He explained, and Zack felt a tingle at the base of his spine, the excitement at getting to see the first and greatest of the Soldiers in person.

The beast in the cell, unlike the others, was not left free to roam as he pleased, but rather was bound kneeling in the middle of the cell, his arms chained behind his back to his ankles by short Mako-infused steel, the only material strong enough to subdue a Soldier's strength. His immaculate silver hair fell in a cascade around his heart-shaped face, clinging to pale skin turned sticky with sweat. His Mako bright eyes were hidden behind a heavy leather blindfold that blocked out all light in the cell. He was beautiful, as he lifted his face at the sound of the two of them, muscles rippling and straining beneath his bindings and Zack found himself swallowing convulsively at the Soldier who wore nothing else yet seemed completely unconcerned with modesty. He'd never thought of himself as gay, but Zack supposed that raw power and beauty had an allure completely separate from true attraction.

"His Handler has spoiled him." The scientist explained, lip curled up in disgust at the sight that so fascinated Zack. "Handler Angeal Hewley is by and far the most successful of the Handlers, and there is no question that Sephiroth obeys him both on and off the battlefield, but when Hewley is called away on separate business, we are forced to resort to chaining his Soldier like a wild youngling. At least the others can be trusted not to truly destroy lab equipment or their cells – we can't even expect that much of this one."

Zack nodded in understanding, still fascinated even as the scientist turned and began to walk away. Zack lingered as long as he could without falling too far behind. The scientist took no notice, except to say. "I trust you will have more sense when training your Soldier, Handler Fair. Soldiers should be obedient first and foremost to their Handlers, but they should also be capable of recognizing the authority of the labs and us, their makers." Zack bit his lip to keep from making a snide remark about the lab tech's inflated sense of ego. He'd only been a Handler for three days now and he didn't want to go around making enemies before he'd so much as been given his first Soldier.

Thankfully, the next time they stopped it was in front of the cell that contained Zack's Soldier. He'd been given the file the day before and had familiarized himself with the contents regarding his Soldier, but nothing could have prepared him for seeing the creature in person. The Soldier was just as beautiful as Sephiroth, though smaller and more delicate in build, all long limbs with whipcord muscles. His hair was blond, an atrocious mess that looked like it'd been sloppily cropped around his ears until it stood up in gravity defying spikes, and his eyes, beneath messy bangs, were a brilliant blue-green, glowing brightly in the dim light of the lab. His only clothing was a pair of plain black slacks slung low over slender hips. The strangest part of the Soldier's appearance, however, was the odd metal cage that wrapped around the beast's jaw and fastened behind his head, keeping his mouth pressed closed and completely immobile.

Seeing Zack's confusion the scientist explained, "I thought you had been made aware of 562's special case, Handler. This beast killed his last Handler—tore his throat out on the training room floor when the man wasn't paying attention. Don't fall for their angelic looks. These are dangerous weapons and untrained they will turn on you as soon as you'd take your eye off of them. This one especially."

Zack had been debriefed on his Soldier's history. It'd been contained in the file with his dossier. Fifteen years old, responding to the name Cloud, and boasting the impressive Mako profile of a First Class Soldier. Many Soldiers fell into Third Class ranks, a gauge of strength and adaptability to the Mako. Only a few were as responsive to Mako therapy as this beast had been, and with proper training he might, one day, be as strong Sephiroth himself. Zack beamed to know that he'd been selected for this creature specifically, even if it was a more dangerous assignment than the rest of his class had been given. This knowledge was made ever more real in Zack's mind by the presence of the muzzle – reminding him that for all his glory, the monster before him was far more dangerous than any he might face out on the battlefield.

"I was informed." Zack told the scientist, mildly annoyed with the accusation. "I was given orders not to remove the muzzle, but how will he eat?" For just a moment, Zack pitied the poor creature, but he'd brought it on himself by misbehaving. A little bit of hunger would hardly kill him.

"He can go for two weeks between feeding. We'll give you daily vitamin shots to go alongside his normal sedatives and that will help him keep up his strength. Every two weeks, return him to the lab and we'll put him under sedation and insert a feeding tube. Don't worry Handler, we've been doing this since he killed his last Handler – there have been no noticeable decreases in his performance while on this feeding schedule." The scientist explained. Zack nodded absently.

The Soldier in the cell (Cloud, Zack reminded himself) inched his way toward the bars, moving in a low crouch on the balls of his feet, his hands flat against the floor for support he didn't need. Carefully, Zack held out his hand, prepared to pull back in case his untrained Soldier tried anything, but the beast merely tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply through the nose, as if memorizing Zack's scent. Zack chuckled and reached out to ruffle blond locks but, with the startling speed of his enhancements, the Soldier leapt back and out of Zack's reach, growling deep in his throat like an angered cat.

"All right." Zack told the Soldier, holding his hands up in a show of surrender. "All right, I won't touch you."

In his cell, the Soldier began to pace, ignoring Zack.

* * *

The trip back to Zack's new apartment was startlingly uneventful. The scientist had retrieved a sedative for the Soldier that wouldn't knock him out but would zap his strength enough to him to be pliant in Zack's arms as he chained the boy's wrists with Mako steel cuffs and guided him out of the labs. Zack was also given a bag containing three weeks worth of medication for his Soldier and a handful of tranquilizer darts. If a Soldier got out of control, the darts would knock them out instantly. In training, Zack had learned how to deploy one, and also how to hide them within easy access where his Soldier wouldn't find them. The darts were powerful enough to knock a Soldier out, but that meant they were also powerful enough to accidentally kill a human. More than one Handler had been killed when their Soldier had injected a dart into them.

Zack's apartment was clean, but only by virtue of it being barely lived in. He'd been assigned new quarters after graduation and acceptance into the Handler program. His new apartment better fit his status as a Handler and had been designed for the purpose of housing a Soldier and a Handler. It consisted of a spacious living room/kitchen and two bedrooms. One of the bedrooms was small, designed for guests who might come to visit Zack, or as an office. Zack was still contemplating what he wanted to do with that room. The other room was almost as large as the living room, if only because a decently sized part of it had been partitioned off using the same Mako infused steel as the labs. The space within had been designed with a Soldier in mind – all reinforced steel with a low bunk built into the wall along the back. It was small enough that Zack could reach into it from the doorway, but large enough to be comfortable for its occupant. Zack's bed along the far wall was more than large enough for two people, a fact which had confused Zack at first before he'd just accepted it as a comfort and a luxury. It was far better than the bunks in the barracks had been, and Zack was thrilled to be able to stretch out. Off from the master bedroom was a bathroom large enough for two people to share comfortably, complete with a large bathtub. Zack had seen it on his first night and been surprised, before he remembered his training. An untrained Soldier couldn't even be trusted to bathe on his own. The tub was there to make it easier for Zack to follow orders.

Once inside the apartment, Zack undid the Soldier's cuffs and, keeping an eye on him, put the medication away in a locked cabinet in the kitchen. The Soldier brushed away from Zack the moment he was free, crouching along the far wall where he could see Zack clearly in the kitchen. Zack leaned against the counter, watching him right back, poised to grab the darts from the pocket sewn into his the inside of his uniform jacket if need be, but the boy just sat back on his heels, alert but unmoving. Zack yawned.

"So, what'd your last Handler do to piss you off so bad?" He asked the Soldier rhetorically, more to fill the silence. It wasn't like the boy could answer him. "Cloud, huh? What kind of a name is that? Did you piss off a scientist when it came time for naming? Hmm… Rain cloud, storm cloud, fluffy cloud." Zack laughed at the last one. Fluffy was the antithesis of the list of words Zack would use to describe a boy capable of breaking his neck with his bare hands.

Cloud didn't seem to find Zack's comment nearly as amusing as Zack did. He rose up from his crouch, standing on the balls of his feet and Zack watched, wary, as Cloud tiptoed around the living room and into the master bedroom. Zack followed at a distance, noting that even the Soldier's walk was odd, an animalistic lope that reminded Zack, distinctly, of a wolf hunting its prey. Still, Zack didn't see any harm in letting the boy explore. They'd both be living here for the next few years, or at least until Zack's next promotion.

Cloud ignored the Handler as he crept through the room, running his fingers over the surface of the wall, brushing against the top of the dresser, and finally tracing the length of the bars, memorizing the surfaces. Zack watched him curiously, not knowing what the Soldier was doing but seeing no harm in it. The beast hadn't shown any signs of aggression since Zack had removed the cuffs. He finished exploring the bedroom and moved onto the bathroom.

Earlier in the day, Zack had set a pile of clean and folded towels on the edge of the counter, in case his Soldier had needed to be bathed that afternoon. Now Cloud made his way through the room, running his hands over Zack's toothbrush and toothpaste, his shaving gel, and the small locked case that contained his razors. Along the way, he bumped against the towels, sending them cascading to the floor in a messy heap.

From the way Cloud jumped back, tucking himself in a small alcove between the bathtub and the cabinets, one might have presumed they were monsters waiting to attack the Soldier. As it was, the startled reaction over something so harmless as a pile of fluffy fabric amused Zack, who laughed. "It won't hurt you." Zack told the beast, gesturing to the pile on the floor. The Soldier just watched him, mouth drawn into a thin, tight line. Zack sighed and bent down to retrieve the fallen objects.

His back was only turned on the Soldier for a moment, but the next thing Zack knew he was being slammed against the floor, landing painfully on his side as a slight but powerful weight buried itself into him. Small hands, weakened by sedative, curled around his throat and squeezed. Zack fought for air, one hand going instinctively to the hidden pocket in his uniform. He twisted to look up at the Soldier's face, and momentarily found himself frozen by what he saw there.

The boy's Mako-bright eyes were completely blank, empty of any discerning emotion. There was no rage there, no anger, just cold hard ruthlessness. They truly weren't human, Zack mused distantly as he finally found his darts. He jammed one into Cloud's leg and waited until the boy's eyes fluttered and his hands let go of Zack's neck. Zack pushed him off and onto the tile floor of the bathroom, gasping and coughing as precious oxygen flooded starved lungs. When he'd caught his breath, Zack turned his attention on Cloud.

Unconscious, the teenage beast's face lost most of its tension, and those glowing strange eyes of his were hidden behind lids framed with pale, full lashes. Under the muzzle, pale pink lips were parted ever so slightly. Serene, like a sleeping angel waiting to awaken. Inhumane in his own beauty. Yet Zack could feel the bruises around his neck, the black marks that reminded him that appearances were deceiving. As he started down at the monster, Zack reminded himself of what it was that made the Soldiers so deadly.

He'd made a mistake, and Cloud had nearly killed him. Next time, Zack mused, he wouldn't be caught off guard. Right now his deadly angel's greatest enemy was Zack himself.

* * *

Zack awoke the next morning to the sound of his alarm clock. It was still early in the day, and much earlier than Zack needed to wake at, but old habits were near impossible to kill. A glance over at the cage along the far wall told Zack that his Soldier was still knocked out. Last night, Zack had dragged him over to the cage before leaving him collapsed on the floor. He'd considered placing a blanket in there for the boy, but decided against it. Soldiers were capable of keeping their internal body temperature up without the use of aids; a blanket would be unnecessary.

Groggy, Zack rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom, turning the faucet on cold and splashing water on his face to help him wake up. He glanced in the mirror briefly, noting the rats' nest that was his sleep-tousled black hair and the visible purple and blue bruises from Cloud's hands with the distant apathy of the sleepy. He looked like shit, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he brushed his teeth and half-heartedly attempted to straighten his hair out.

Back in the bedroom, Zack heard the rustle of fabric as his Soldier began to stir. He locked up his razors and went back to his room. Sure enough, the blond haired boy was crouched low in his cage, his fists wrapped around the bars as he watched Zack with silent, cold eyes. The tension was back in his face, making him look older again, and less innocent. More monstrous. Good, Zack mused, it would be easier to keep his guard up this way. He ignored the boy for now and got dressed in a clean Handler uniform, carefully loaded it with fresh darts, and then left for the kitchen to grab the boy's morning sedative and vitamin shots. While in the kitchen, Zack noticed the cuffs, still deposited on the counter after last night. On a whim, he grabbed them. Might as well make sure the monster didn't cause any trouble before they made it down to the practice yards for morning training.

"You gonna behave?" Zack asked rhetorically as he dropped the cuffs on his bed and held out the keys and the shots for Cloud to see. Obediently, the Soldier let go of the bars and backed up further into the cage, away from Zack. Zack took this as a good sign and, armed with his darts, unlocked the cell doors. Cautiously, Zack moved closer to the beast, surprised when he simply moved away from him, eyeing the needles warily. Zack sighed and reached out, grabbing the (thankfully) still weakened Soldier by his arm. "Hold still!" He ordered, as Cloud struggled and tried to pull away. The boy was no match for Zack, who'd not only been trained for combat, but was also larger and momentarily stronger than his unruly Soldier. He managed to wrestle the boy to the floor even as he continued to struggle. Only when Zack was sitting on top of him injecting the first of his shots into his arm did Cloud stop struggling.

It was strange, actually, and Zack was somewhat confused by the action. One moment Cloud had been attempting to buck him off, and in the next he'd gone completely limp, turning his head away from Zack and staring instead at the wall. Zack didn't comment, even as he mentally filed away the strange action to be discussed and observed later on, when he wasn't in the precarious position of giving a stubborn and disobedient Soldier his morning shots. He didn't linger on top of the smaller boy, climbing off and watching as Cloud rolled away, his back to the Handler as he lay, silent and sedated on the floor. The shots wouldn't knock him out, not like the darts would, but they'd keep his Soldier strength subdued for training. Soldiers were always kept sedated when not out on missions.

Zack took advantage of Cloud's momentary lapse into oblivion to grab the bindings off his bed, snapping them around the boy's wrists before he had a chance to react. The key went on his ring with all the others, tucked into a pocket beside the darts. He set Cloud back on his heels and left, intending to finish getting dressed. Instead he found himself staring at his Soldier, who was studying the floor in front of him, completely unmoving.

"You should be excited." He told the Soldier, digging around under his bed for his boots. "You get to fight today."

No reaction. Zack got up and double-checkedto make sure all of his gear was on him before grabbing the Soldier up off the floor and steering him out of the room. Cloud went without protest and Zack sighed. "I guess monsters like you only like the slaughter and the bloodshed, then."

* * *

Zack stepped off the lift, his hand on Cloud's shoulder to steer the Soldier into the moderately busy lobby of the Soldier Training floor. It was early, but already several Handlers were lounging on the couches, chatting with each other while their Soldiers, in various stages of full discipline, either waited silently against the wall or knelt in bindings at their Handler's feet. Zack glanced around the room briefly before spotting his best friend from training, Kunsel, seated on the far side of the room, his Soldier kneeling at his feet while Kunsel fed him pieces of a cookie from his hand. They both glanced up at Zack and Cloud as they walked over to them.

"Morning, Zack," Kunsel greeted. "I see you got your Soldier finally." He smiled at the dark haired Handler teasingly.

Zack rolled his eyes and pushed Cloud down to his knees before flopping onto the couch beside Kunsel. "I guess they wanted to be sure I knew what I was getting into before they gave me Cloud here." He gestured to the beast, who'd been compliant ever since his shots that morning, much to Zack's delight.

Kunsel's eyes widened as he took in Cloud, noting the mess of blond hair and mako-steel muzzle that encased his jaw. "Isn't that the Soldier that killed Handler Keir six months ago?" At Zack's silent nod, he let out a low whistle. Everyone had heard of the incident. Zack and Kunsel had just been selected for Handler training a few months prior and the news had served as a stark reminder of just what, exactly, they'd be getting into. Two other Handlers-in-training had taken the news as an omen, and dropped the program but Zack and Kunsel were determined. Or foolish. Zack still wasn't sure which.

"They must have a lot of faith in you to give you that Soldier." Kunsel said, glancing down at his own Soldier. To Zack, it looked like the beast was maybe a year or so younger than Cloud, with hair that was a dirtier shade of blond cropped short around his ears. Wide mako eyes starred at Zack, unblinking as Cloud's own and just as unnerving. No wonder Soldiers gave people the creeps.

"It's either that or I pissed off the instructors enough that they decided this was the best way to get rid of me." Zack joked, but with the knowledge of what had transpired last night still lingering in his very sore neck, the joke fell flat between them.

Kunsel shook his head. "You were the best in training, so I'm sure it's faith they have in you, not irritations. Even if you are so damned annoying at times." He teased and Zack laughed, swatting at him playfully. Kunsel's expression turned serious as he asked, "Remember what Instructor Connell said about reinforcement learning?"

Zack glanced down at Cloud, thinking. "I'm not sure a shock collar would do anything more than make him more aggressive." He admitted. "Didn't Instructor Connell say that operative conditioning was more effective and less likely to make them mentally unstable?"

Kunsel nodded, and reminded of that passed another chunk of the cookie he was breaking apart in his hands to the Soldier, who ate demurely. "So it does, but remember Zack, it relies on rewards for good behavior. How are you going to reward that?" He gestured to the muzzle. Zack frowned. Young Soldiers often responded to food as rewards while older ones responded to things like being given more freedom or games to play. Cloud couldn't be given the first one, and certainly couldn't be trusted with the latteroptions.

"I'll think of something." He said, standing up. "But for now I should get into one of the gyms. Need to start somewhere, right?"

Kunsel nodded and waved at them. "Good luck, Zack."

Zack smiled cheerfully, "Thanks." He said, "I'll need it."

* * *

As it turned out, Zack did need luck. Or a shock stick. Or something else that would help him probe his lethargic Soldier into actually moving. He'd spent most of the morning and the first part of the afternoon facing down Cloud who, sedated and weakened, had been armed with a dull training knife and given orders by Zack to attack him. However, Cloud had not attacked, instead staring at Zack with unblinking bright eyes, the dagger clasped loosely by his side. Zack had tried to provoke him, but Cloud didn't even flinch and Zack was forced to fall back to avoid injuring his Soldier.

Finally, Zack withdrew, and met the boy's eyes, staring at him incredulously. "Why won't you fight?" He asked. He was getting tired of these rhetorical questions. "I thought you'd be excited for a chance to stretch out and let loose."

"Beat him until he does." An unknown voice answered Zack. The Handler spun to see an older man, his Handler sword slung in a sheath at his waist, dark eyes completely serious. "All of them have instincts of self preservation that drive them on the battle field. Sometimes they just need a little persuasion to bring it out in training, too."

Zack scowled, glancing back over at Cloud who was standing perfectly still, ignoring the two Handlers. He could… Nobody would say a word if Zack beat his Soldier until he fought back. Others had done the same, with favorable results. But he remembered Cloud's appearance last night, when the Soldier had been unconscious, his childish face peaceful and open. Zack could no more kick a puppy.

He berated himself for that thought. Soldiers were weapons, to be used at the discretion of the Handler who acted under orders from the Shinra Corporation. If a gun failed to fire, it was discarded; if a Soldier failed to fight…

He forced himself to smile at the Handler. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

The Handler waved him off. "It's your Soldier." He said, "Though I don't envy you for getting him. Of all the Soldiers in Shinra, that one's probably the worst." He walked off before Zack got the chance to ask him what he meant by that statement.

_He's probably referring to what happened to his last Handler_. Zack thought, sinking back down into a front guard position. "C'mon Cloud." He called. "Just one spar and then we'll go get food and call it quits for the day." Zack's stomach was growling. He'd skipped breakfast and he'd been so absorbed with Cloud all day that he'd missed lunch as well. Dinner would be starting soon in the Shinra cafeteria, but even if he didn't get that there were always the local food places around the tower where he could order out.

It didn't work. Cloud just stood there staring, uninterested in anything at all and Zack was hungry. Maybe the tranquilizer last night was still affecting him. Ah, well, Zack decided. They could try again tomorrow. "All right, put the dagger away." He ordered, setting his own weapon down. "Let's go get something to eat and call it a day."

Zack turned away when, just as he'd been waiting for all day, Cloud attacked. The young Soldier launched himself from his relaxed position into a battle ready stance, sprinting across the floor with a speed impressive even for a Soldier, barreling into Zack and knocking him to the ground, the dagger in his hand blunt enough to bruise as Cloud knocked it against his shoulder, dragging the blade down and across his chest, scratching more than cutting. Zack grunted, and bucked, throwing the vicious little monster off of him as he reached for his darts, but Cloud knocked into him again, small hands pinning Zack's wrists as he growled low in his throat. Zack twisted but Cloud had his weight pressed into him. Zack had thought him skinny, but he was actually quite heavy. Cloud had him completely pinned and with rising dread, Zack realized he was trapped.


	2. The Handler

Thank you to Stars, Guest, and CNome for (anonymously) reviewing! To **Stars**: Your wish is my command! :D To **Guest**: Blame it on LJ training me to warn for EVERYTHING in original darkfics. I guarantee nothing about my consistency, or lack thereof, but I will try not to make a mess of things. Believe me, there's a LOT more to the story than even the long summary implies. It's a screwed up mess Zack's found himself in the middle of. To **CNome**: Me neither! I so badly wanted to read this fanfiction, and that's what actually motivated me to write it. As far as I know, I'm the only one who is playing with this idea right now. Not sure if this is what you meant by "contrast" but here's Angeal and Sephiroth for you. Yes, they are COMPLETELY different from Zack and Cloud. :D

**A Thousand Amazing Thanks (and the Best Sister in the Universe Award) goes to Tainted Kattitina for agreeing to beta this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Two: The Handler**

Cloud was going to kill him. That thought was enough to send Zack into a panicked frenzy, struggling to no avail. He closed his eyes so he didn't have to look at the lifeless bright eyes of his inhuman Soldier.

There was a grunt, a growl, and suddenly Zack's wrists were released. He sat up in time to see his Soldier thrown across the room, a blur of silver chasing after him. Quickly, the other Handlers and Soldiers cleared the floor to give the two Soldiers room to fight. Zack felt hands grab him by his upper arms, dragging him out of harm's way and against the wall as Sephiroth sent Cloud crashing back towards them. He watched as the Soldier righted himself into a low crouch and growled deep in the back of his throat, launching himself at the older, silver haired monster. Sephiroth, however, was ready for him, looking perfectly serene standing in the middle of the room, green cat-like eyes focused completely on the blond. To Zack's surprise, the two were fairly evenly matched, as far as strength went, but Cloud was slower, younger, and had less training, and Sephiroth was toying with him.

"Sephiroth, disable!" The man who'd grabbed Zack shouted, and Zack glanced up at him. Dark hair and eyes, a square face with a strong jaw and a permanent serious scowl on his face. Zack would have recognized Handler Angeal Hewley anywhere.

Zack turned his attention back to the battle in time to see Sephiroth feint, catching Cloud by one arm and then the other, effectively trapping the wild Soldier against his body in a hold Cloud couldn't escape from. Handler Hewley stood, pulling a dart from his pocket, which he stabbed into Cloud's exposed neck. The Soldier struggled until the effects of the tranquilizer forced him into unconsciousness. Only when he'd stopped moving did Sephiroth very carefully lower the Soldier the ground, showing far more concern than he had during their battle seconds earlier. Zack stumbled to his feet and ran over to them, grateful to see that Cloud looked uninjured.

"He'll be fine, Handler." Hewley said, as if he'd read Zack's thoughts. The older man knelt down next to him and started going through the motions of checking Cloud's vitals, placing one hand in front of his nose to check for breathing, since Cloud's muzzle kept him from using his mouth. Hewley clucked his tongue against his teeth and said, "Nothing out of the ordinary, though you might want to keep your guard up next time."

Zack nodded miserably. He'd been caught off guard in front of everyone in the Soldier program, including Shinra's most famous Handler-Soldier pair. The humiliation of that alone was enough to make him want to curl up in his bed and not emerge until the Promised Day. Still, Zack put on his best megawatt smile and said, "Thanks for saving me, sir. I thought I was dead for sure."

Hewley just stared at him for a moment before his face changed in just the barest trace of a smile. "You're too young to go getting yourself killed." He said, as if that explained everything. "Still, I don't envy you the task of training Cloud. It's been a while since the last time anyone tried to recover a completely feral Soldier."

Zack cocked his head to the side, unsure of what to make of the comment. What did Hewley mean by completely feral? Cloud was insane, Zack was starting realize that, but what did Angeal mean when he called the beast feral? Was it different from the way the other Soldiers were feral; beasts in need of training? The questions rushed through his head as Zack contemplated the best one to ask, unable to pick just one of them. Instead, he said, "Sir, what do you know about my Soldier?"

"Not _sir_, Angeal." The Handler replied, holding out his hand for Zack to shake. "You're Soldier Handler Zack Fair, right? I've heard a lot of good things about you."

"Uh, thanks. I think." Zack ducked his head, distantly pleased and mortified both to have been recognized by someone so far above him in rank.

"Relax, Zack, it's a compliment to your temperament and dedication during training." Angeal replied. "But to answer your last question I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific. I know quite a bit about all the Soldiers. This one, for example," he gestured to Cloud, "was born in Nibelheim and taken into the Soldier program ten years ago at the age of five. His Mako Reactivity is the third highest in all of Soldier, and when he's fully trained he is expected to be as strong as Sephiroth. You can understand, then, why Shinra might be reluctant to put down one of their greatest successes."

Zack nodded. Ten years of research and experimentation was a lot to throw away, even in the Soldier program. And if Cloud really did have the potential to match Sephiroth – who was widely regarded by Shinra as being absolutely peerless – then Zack could see their reluctance. In the twenty year history of the Soldier program, no other Soldier had ever come anywhere close to reaching Sephiroth's skill and power on the battlefield.

Still, it wasn't what Zack wanted to know. "What do you mean by feral?" He asked, watching Cloud breathe deep through his nose in the dreamless state of unconsciousness.

Angeal just smiled, a grim sort of expression that betrayed absolutely no happiness in it, and studied the younger Handler with dark eyes.

Sephiroth moved his hands just then. He'd been standing patiently nearby, within eyesight of Angeal, but with his arms crossed over his chest in a waiting position. Now his hands moved rapidly for a couple of seconds before Angeal nodded to him. To Zack, Angeal said, "It's noisy down here. Why don't we take Cloud back to your room and talk there?"

Zack nodded in agreement, still a bit awestruck. Sephiroth knelt down and picked Cloud up, carrying him far more easily than Zack ever could have (even for a tiny teenager, Cloud was heavy). The trip to Zack's apartment was fairly short, if only because Zack and Angeal spent most of it making small talk about Soldiers, Shinra, and favorite Midgar haunts. Once back at his place, Sephiroth carried Cloud over to his cage and put him on the low alcove before he turned to Angeal and moved his hands again. Angeal looked at Zack, "Do you have a blanket we can put over him?" He asked.

Zack frowned. They didn't need blankets; Soldiers didn't get cold. He debated refusing, but this was Angeal, _Handler Hewley_, who was a Shinra legend! He nodded. "In the closet."

Sephiroth showed remarkable care as he draped the blanket over Cloud, making sure the boy was resting comfortably so that no part of his body lost circulation or cramped from his position, before he finally left the cage. Even then, he gestured to Cloud, looking at his Handler. Zack didn't need to be able to read Sephiroth's unspoken language to know what his request was. He nodded to him and the Soldier knelt down gracefully, his attention focused on the sleeping Soldier.

Zack and Angeal left Sephiroth to his silent vigilance and went into the living room, where they arranged themselves comfortably on the couch as Zack grabbed two glasses of water for them. Zack was parched from training, but Angeal drank slowly, patiently waiting for Zack to speak first.

"Does Sephiroth speak?" Zack asked finally, after getting up once to refill his glass. "I know Soldiers don't generally speak much, but I didn't think they were mute… are they?"

Angeal chuckled, shaking his head. "I've never heard Sephiroth so much as cry out, and I've known him since he was eight." He admitted. "If he can, then he just prefers to sign, though I wouldn't be surprised if he just never learned how – Soldier upbringing isn't conducive to learning communication skills."

Zack nodded, but he was still struggling with the mental image of a young Sephiroth and a young Angeal. If the Soldier program was around twenty years old, then Sephiroth could only be a few years older. "How long have you been his Handler?"

Angeal exhaled, rolling his eyes up as he counted years. "If I'm twenty-four then… probably around nine or ten years now."

"Wow. You were a Handler as a teenager?"

Angeal shrugged off Zack's amazement nonchalantly. "I've always known how to deal with Sephiroth." He said seriously, "The other scientists would get him all riled up and I'd calm him down again. When the idea of Handlers was proposed it… made sense… for me to train him. After all, we'd already developed our own sign language by then."

"Does the sign language work at all? I mean, in handling him. Not just for communication." Zack asked eagerly. Angeal controlled Sephiroth as easily as he breathed, and Sephiroth was so calm and well behaved. Zack was jealous, in a way. He wanted Cloud to be that docile. At least then maybe Zack could take a shower in peace without worrying about being murdered in the attempt.

The older Handler stared at him, flat and unreadable for a long moment before he said, "You'd be amazed at how many problems can be avoided simply by having an effective means to communicate." He explained. "Cloud knows some of Sephiroth's signs – I think Sephiroth's taught him most of them. I will teach you some if you think you'll use them. Who knows, maybe you can ask Cloud why he tried to kill you."

Zack chuckled softly, but the joke was hardly funny. With two murder attempts in as many days, Zack would be lucky to live out the week at this rate. However, he'd gladly take whatever help the older Handler was willing to offer. It seemed kind of like a silly idea, teaching his Soldier to communicate, but it seemed to work for Angeal. Besides, what did he have to lose? It couldn't hurt anything.

He agreed to try and Angeal nodded, as if he'd never doubted that Zack would refuse. A sort of silence settled between them as they sipped their water, and Zack occasionally glanced back at the door to his bedroom. "Something the matter?" Angeal finally asked after the fourth time Zack not-to-discretely glanced over his shoulder.

"Nothing." Zack said, before admitting. "I kind of thought Soldiers were like wolves, but Sephiroth seems sociable."

"Wolves are possessive creatures, Zack." Angeal explained calmly. "They're not sociable."

As if on cue, the door to Zack's room opened then and Sephiroth stepped out, gliding across the room gracefully, long silver hair flowing behind him as he took a seat on the floor next to Angeal, staring at Zack with bright eyes narrowed in an eerily perfect face. Was it Mako, Zack wondered not for the first time, that made Soldiers so inhumanely beautiful? Angeal put his hand on his Soldier's head, the action more subconscious than deliberate, but the Soldier allowed it, calmly keeping his eyes trained on Zack. Angeal sighed. "Some wolves think with their stomachs." He commented. Sephiroth ignored him but Zack blinked as Angeal rose, the Soldier following him.

"Would you like to join us for dinner, Zack?" Angeal asked.

Zack shook his head. "No, got food here I can eat. I'd rather not leave my Soldier alone in my apartment if I can help it." He explained. Cloud wouldn't wake up, but if by some fluke he did… well, Zack didn't want to risk it.

Angeal nodded in understanding. "Tomorrow morning at o-eight-hundred then. Soldier training floor in one of the private rooms." At Zack's confirming nod, he added, "Eat breakfast, too. Response times are often slowed due to a lack of proper nutrition, and with the Soldiers that's the difference between life and, well, what happened today."

Zack nodded, wondering if Angeal had somehow figured out that he'd skipped eating all day today. He scoffed at the thought immediately afterwards – nobody was that perceptive. Still, he took the warning at face value and ate just as soon as he saw the older Handler and Soldier out of his apartment.

* * *

The next morning, Cloud sat at the kitchen table staring at Zack as the Handler cooked breakfast. If ever looks could kill, Zack decided as the smell of scrambled eggs and burning bacon wafted through the apartment, then surely Cloud's would have murdered him thrice over this morning alone. The Soldier managed to look perfectly displeased, wet and disoriented in his bindings from the impromptu bath Zack had given him that morning, mostly to wash off the stale sweat that still clung to his skin from his brief but intense fight with Sephiroth yesterday. The bath hadn't been easy, since Cloud had fought him the moment he'd put the beast in the already filled tub, but Zack had washed enough dogs in his youth that wrestling one more – even if he did look human – was not that much more of a challenge.

So now Cloud sat at the table, glaring holes in the back of Zack's head, as those sloppy blond spikes of his dripped water down his bare chest. Zack had dressed him in a pair of Soldier uniform pants, but he didn't dare risk removing the Soldier's cuffs just yet. No, he'd wait until he was safely in the gym, where Sephiroth could pull the boy off of him if he decided to get revenge for the bath.

The clock above the stove read 7:30, though Zack felt it had to be running slow. He bounced back and forth on his feet, waiting for the toaster to ding, and feeling more excited than he'd been since he'd gotten into the Handler program. Angeal Hewley had offered to mentor him! He couldn't believe his luck! Not only had he been trusted to train a very powerful Soldier, but now he was going to be receiving training help from Shinra's most famous Handler! Angeal was legendary!

The toaster dinged and Zack grabbed a plate. Toast with butter and jam was joined with eggs and bacon, Zack's usual cup of coffee beside it. He set the food down on the table and took a seat. Cloud was staring at the food and it didn't take a genius to figure out that he wanted some. Zack chuckled and patted the Soldier's head in mock affection. "Cheer up, Spikey. Maybe if you start behaving, they'll let you eat real food again, instead of just shoving a tube down your throat."

The Soldier growled low in his throat, a negative if ever Zack heard one, but Zack merely went back to eating his food, unperturbed. Cloud glared at him, brilliant blue eyes narrowed as he continued growling. Zack did his best to ignore him. It was a bit like trying to eat meat in a tiger's den, Zack imagined, with the tiger growling at you from three feet away, threatening death if they can get close enough. It was almost enough to make him lose his appetite.

Almost, but not quite, though Zack did wolf down the meal with the speed he'd learned from living in the military barracks since he was a young teenager. Men in the mess tended to be fast eaters out of necessity. He set all the dishes in the sink and washed the knives before locking them back up in the mako steel safe in the cabinet.

"Ready to go?" He asked his Soldier when he was done putting away dishes and getting his gear. Cloud growled at him.

* * *

The training floor was busy at this hour of the morning, in between Handlers finishing up morning training and receiving their daily missions. Kunsel and his Soldier were in one of the training rooms working on hand to hand combat, watched over by an older Handler and Soldier pair in case something went wrong. It likely wouldn't, Zack noted somewhat bitterly as he paused behind the one way mirror that looked into the room. Kunsel's Soldier knew how to behave.

Angeal and Sephiroth were already in one of the larger training rooms. Angeal leaned against the wall watching as his Soldier stretched out in the middle, dressed only in the same dark pants as Cloud, a harness for his sword belted across his chest but lacking the immensely long blade that had become the silver haired Soldier's calling card. He ignored the younger pair as they entered the room, but Angeal glanced over at them, his expression softening just slightly. Zack waved cheerfully at him and with his free hand on the small of Cloud's back, guided the still-sulking Soldier over to Handler.

"Difficult morning?" Angeal asked, gesturing to Cloud's bound hands.

"Always a difficult morning." Zack replied, already reaching for the keys to Cloud's cuffs. The Soldier jerked away from him, and Zack let him go, one eyebrow raised as he regarded the petulant young Soldier. "All right Spikey, if you don't want me to take off the cuffs…" He trailed off meaningfully, holding up the key to show the Soldier. Cloud growled at him.

With a sigh, Angeal pushed himself off the wall and moved to stand directly in front of Cloud, blocking him from Zack's view. Zack moved so he could see what the Handler did as the man signed a long string of gestures to the beast. At the end of them they both waited, Angeal staring at Cloud as the beast glared back. Then Cloud growled again.

Angeal clapped his hands together loudly in Cloud's face, the sound echoing in the small room, making Zack jump instinctively. Even Sephiroth glanced over at them, an expression almost like a frown on that beautiful face before he went back to what he was doing wordlessly. Angeal repeated the gestures and paused while Cloud glared at him. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Cloud sank to his knees.

To Zack, it felt like a miracle had happened right before his eyes. The beast waited there, kneeling with his head bowed to Angeal in the perfect picture of well trained subservience. Zack hadn't even known it was possible for the little brat to ever look like that. "What the hell did you tell him?" Zack asked in awe as Angeal stepped off to the side.

Angeal smiled. "You'll see. You can take the cuff off him, but then step back immediately. You won't want to stand in his way." The older Handler leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms again. Zack eyed him suspiciously, but didn't linger too long. Cloud was fidgeting slightly, moving restlessly against his restraints, anticipation sparking about him, strong enough that Zack could feel it as he knelt behind the Soldier and unlocked the cuffs.

The moment the bands fell free the young soldier launched himself forward, the force sending Zack stumbling back against the wall. He caught himself, helplessly watching as Cloud immediately sprang towards Sephiroth, who had his back to the young Soldier. Sephiroth, however, didn't even rise, still seated on the floor to stretch. Instead, the silver-haired Soldier raised one hand up and leaned back, catching Cloud's arm and pulling the beast over his body, before kicking him right in the stomach. The result sent Cloud flying up and ahead of Sephiroth, landing with a grunt on his back. Sephiroth used the resulting momentum to roll back onto his feet, standing and glaring at the slightly winded young Soldier who was pushing himself back to his feet, preparing to launch again.

"Angeal." Zack called urgently, watching the two Soldiers as they circled each other on the training room floor. "Shouldn't Sephiroth be taking Cloud down right about now?"

Angeal glanced over at the young Handler, an unfathomable hint of a smile playing out in his expression. Amusement, carefully contained in his feature but not in his voice. "And ruin their playing?" Angeal asked mildly. "It will do them both some good to spar for a while. Sephiroth has been in the labs for the last week and Cloud is too aggressive to listen to instructions right now." Zack ducked out of the way of fight when Sephiroth sent Cloud crashing to the floor barely three feet away from him and moved to stand by Angeal. At least the older man didn't look like he was in the way of direct harm. "Don't worry, Sephiroth won't hurt your Soldier."

A crack rang out in the room just then, as if to illustrate the fact that Zack knew Angeal was lying to him. Cloud crashed against the floor again, catching himself on one hand, as the other was bent at an odd angle, broken. "Right." Zack drawled, feeling oddly concerned about his Soldier. He knew Soldiers could take a lot of damage and still fight, but Cloud's wrist had to be _broken_ now, judging by the angle it was at. Funny, he was supposed to be the Soldier's Handler, but the damn thing had tried to kill him twice already and Zack still felt concern for it. Logically, Zack thought perhaps he should be enjoying the fight, the beautiful sight of two blood thirsty monsters in their most primal form – intoxicating and beautiful. Yet somehow all Zack could do was worry from the side about Cloud's broken bones.

"How's your neck?" Angeal asked casually, never taking his eyes off the sparring Soldiers. Sephiroth was winning, but Cloud seemed to be doing a fairly good job of holding his own, even if Zack could spot the weaknesses in the untrained Soldier's fighting stance. The thing had absolutely no discipline.

Instinctively, Zack's hand went to his throat, touching the bruising carefully. "It doesn't hurt." He admitted. No, it was just a visually humiliating reminder of his own inability to control his own Soldier.

Angeal pushed himself off the wall and cupped Zack's face between his hands. "Let me see." He ordered, studying the bruises for a moment before he shook his head. "Congratulations, Handler, you have your first training marks."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Zack asked, shrugging out of the older Handler's grip. "Or is it some sort of rite of passage, to be nearly murdered by your own Soldier."

"You wouldn't be respected if you hadn't." Angeal answered, leaning back against the wall. The spar looked like it was starting to wind down. Sephiroth looked perfectly undisturbed, waiting in an open an easy stance, not a strand of silver hair out of place, but Cloud was breathing heavily through his nose, jaw bones flexing at the unforgiving steel of the muzzle, fighting against it as he instinctively sought more air. Zack and Angeal both noticed Cloud's difficulty breathing, but Angeal did nothing more than keep steady dark eyes trained on the Soldier. Zack waited, wondering. Was the primitive, animalistic instinct to fight so deeply ingrained in the Soldiers that his would even go so far as to drive himself to unconsciousness?

They waited, anxious and alert, as the two Soldiers regarded each other, waiting.

Some unspoken cue passed beneath Zack's notice and all of a sudden Angeal's hand shifted to a pocket on his uniform vest, reaching for a dart as Sephiroth lunged at Cloud, pinning the young Soldier to the floor in a hold that Cloud struggled against, but couldn't break free from. Angeal crouched down before the pair, staring straight into Cloud's brilliant eyes.

"Stop fighting." Angeal ordered, and to Zack's surprise the Soldier obeyed, going limp beneath Sephiroth as he turned his gaze up at the ceiling. Sephiroth eased off the Soldier slightly, but kept him pinned beneath his hands.

_How did he do that?_ Zack wondered, mildly jealous. He made it look so easy – look in control and issue the order. Sure, in training he'd learned that authority was the first part of control with Soldiers. You, the Handler, were in control of the situation. You had the authority, not them. But Zack seriously doubted a firm voice alone was what Cloud had responded to.

Angeal stood up and gestured for Zack to come closer. Without a word, he went through a string of motions with his hands, slow and deliberate so that Zack could follow them. There were only a few and when he finished, Angeal said, "Repeat them back to me."

It took Zack a few tries before Angeal smiled at him and nodded in approval. "Great!" Zack cheered, "Now what am I saying?"

"Heel." Angeal said, making the first motion. He went through the others in order. "Guard, attack, wait, ready, and kneel."

Zack cocked his head to the side at the last one. The rest made sense – they were standard call orders – but the last one was a bit surprising. He repeated it, a downward push of the hand like forcing someone to their knees. It made sense, but he still wasn't sure why Angeal had taught it to him.

Angeal turned his attention back to Sephiroth, issuing a long string of commands to the Soldier, one of which Zack recognized as the kneel command. Sephiroth eased himself off of Cloud, who barely even blinked at the shift, and signed back to Angeal, settling himself on the floor, cross legged and waiting, frowning slightly. When he was done, he placed one hand casually across Cloud's throat, just below the muzzle, pinning the Soldier. Angeal nodded, and Sephiroth shifted, grabbing Cloud's arm and pulling the Soldier up until he was sitting on the floor beside him.

Cloud sat beside Sephiroth staring at the two Handlers, calmer and more relaxed than Zack had ever seen him. His breathing was evening out again, his chest no longer heaving as he fought to keep his blood full of oxygen. Angeal nodded in approval, signing a long string of words to Cloud. The young Soldier watched him, before replying in slow, deliberate gestures. The "conversation" went on for several minutes as Zack watched, trying to guess at the gestures and what they meant, especially the ones that were repeated several times.

When they were done, Angeal gestured for Zack. "From the sparring earlier, what do you think Cloud needs the most work on?" He asked.

Zack paused. "His discipline." He said immediately. Angeal was testing him, checking to see if he'd been paying attention during Cloud and Sephiroth's spar. "His stance is sloppy and defense poor – it leaves him open for attack."

Angeal nodded. "But if he's low to the ground then he's a smaller target for attack."

"Yes, but his center of gravity is too low. He can't attack like that, nor shift to an attacking position without throwing himself off balance. Soldiers might be fast, but that means little without balance." Zack replied, reciting what he'd learned from Handler training. Handlers were trained warriors in their own right, on par with Turks in combat, with the added bonus that most Handlers were also trained in Materia use. They had to be able to hold their own in battle, even while commanding their Soldiers. Furthermore, they were trained to teach, and Zack did know how to observe, even when he didn't look like it.

Angeal nodded, and motioned towards Cloud with a meaningful look. Sephiroth rose to his feet gracefully, retreating to the far side of the room. Angeal stepped back and Zack, taking the unspoken cue from Angeal, made the motion for Cloud to ready. To his surprise, the Soldier obeyed, rising to his feet and waiting in the easy, casual stance that Zack had come to associate with people trained to fight – a stance that could easily be shifted into a guard if need be.

"Good." Angeal said. "One last sign." He told Zack, and with that he raised his left hand and curled his fingers so that the index was almost but not quite touching the thumb, as if he was holding an invisible coin up for Zack to see. He held that sign over his heart, sweeping across to his right arm over his chest.

Zack mimicked the motion and when Angeal smiled he said, "Great! Now what did I say?"

"Take a guess." Angeal commanded, but at Zack's bewildered expression, he caved. "_Near to the heart_." He explained, and made the motion again. "It's a name sign. Cloud's name sign."

Zack repeated it. It felt strange, somehow, signing a name instead of speaking it, especially given the meaning Angeal had given him. How the hell did a beast as wild and vicious as Cloud end up with a name like that?

* * *

**AN**: How did he indeed? *Side eyes Angeal*

Just wanted to let you guys know that next month, August, is Camp NaNoWriMo. It's a writing challenge, for those of you who don't know, where you try to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I'm planning to try and write 50,000 words, including the vast majority of Sleeping Angels, that month. Unfortunately, it means you will not be getting any updates until September. No guarantees, but you may get chapter three in the first week of August, since I am just about finished writing that one. However, Kattitina is doing NaNo as well and Namel has real life stuff in her way, so there may not be a Beta available until September...

Look on the bright side: the story will be at least halfway complete by September. That's my goal and I'm sticking to it.

~Lockea


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